Honourable Justice Lex Mpati, the President of the Supreme Court of
Appeal,
Mr Edward Beerwinkel of Juta
Winners of the competition,
Officials of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and the
SA Law Reform Commission,
Members of the legal fraternity,
Ladies and gentlemen.

I would like to welcome you all to this auspicious occasion. It is indeed
a pleasure to be with you tonight at this ceremony named after of one
of the most astute legal minds in the history of our country, the late
Chief Justice Ismail Mahomed.
In a career of some thirty-five years as an advocate, Ismail Mahomed
appeared in numerous trials on behalf of some of the leading figures
in the liberation struggle. Like other members of the Johannesburg Bar
such as George Bizos, Arthur Chaskalson, Bram Fischer and Joe Slovo,
he helped lead the challenge in the courts to the injustice of apartheid.
He dedicated his life’s work to the achievement of just, fair and
equitable society.

Because of his reputation for impartiality and fairness, he was accepted
as co-chairperson of the multi-party constitutional negotiations at CODESA.
His commitment to the supremacy of the Constitution was unwavering. President
Mandela often told the story of how Justice Mahomed warned all politicians
gathered at those negotiations that, as judges, they would fearlessly
uphold the Constitution; and they did. He contributed much to the development
of jurisprudence, not only in South Africa, but also in our neighbouring
SADC countries.

When we reflect on the life of Ismail Mahomed, it gives one some sense
of how far we have come as a nation in achieving the open, just and fair
society that he had fought for. For me, the most striking memory of Ismail
Mahomed was to hear him reflect on how, even though he grew up in Pretoria,
he could not be admitted to the Pretoria Bar Association, as this was
reserved for whites only. He could, however, join the Johannesburg Bar
Association, but could not have chambers, due to the provisions of the
Group Areas Act.

Justice Ismail Mahomed acquired “first status” in almost
every arena: He became the first Black person to be appointed as a judge
in 1991, the first Black judge of the Appellate Division in 1993 and
he went on to become the first Black Chief Justice of the Republic of
South Africa in 1997. He was one of the first Constitutional Court judges
and authored the first judgment of the Constitutional Court in the case
of State v Makwanyane in 1995 where the death penalty was held
to be unconstitutional. He was the first chairperson of the Judicial
Service Commission which he helped to establish. Last but not least,
he was the first Chairperson of the South African Law Reform Commission
appointed post 1994. I could go on speaking about this great legal mind
but we do have a special guest, Judge Lex Mpati, whom I hope will share
some thoughts about Justice Mahomed and the competition.

I would like to extend a special welcome to the winners of the competition
and the students who participated who are here with us tonight. At previous
ceremonies we have had the pleasure of having Justice Mahomed’s
family with us, but this year they have apologised as the date of the
ceremony comes during the Ramadan fasting period. Mr Anver Mahomed,
who has always represented the family at this gathering, sends his good
wishes to the South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC), Juta and the
winners and apologies for not being able to be with us tonight.

The SALRC, in partnership with Juta Law, started the Ismail Mahomed
Law Reform Essay Competition in 1999 in honour of the late Chief Justice
Mahomed. The Ismail Mahomed Law Reform Essay Competition is aimed at
encouraging critical legal writing by students and to generate new innovative
ideas for law reform. The ideas should be aligned to South Africa’s
priorities as a developmental state and be aimed at keeping the law abreast
of the developments in society and in tune with the needs of South Africa’s
diverse population and national policy priorities.

Ismail Mahomed dedicated his life to bring about social change. In the
1998 South African Journal of Human Rights Prof Karl Klare,
a leader in the critical legal studies movement, described our Constitution
as a transformative document. By 'transformative constitutionalism' he
meant 'a long-term project of constitutional enactment, interpretation,
and enforcement committed to transforming a country's political and social
institutions in a democratic, participatory, and egalitarian direction.
Transformative constitutionalism connotes an enterprise of inducing large-scale
social change through nonviolent political processes, grounded in law.'

In essence, we can only bring about social change and build a just,
fair and equitable society, if we have the necessary legal framework
and legislation to allow us to do so. The law ultimately is the mirror
that reflects the character of our society. It has to meet the demands
and the specific needs of an ever-changing society. Many would say that
there is a perception that the law is cast in stone, rigid and inflexible.
This is not true. The law is not static, it is a dynamic and vibrant
discipline, constantly adapting to serve the needs and address the concerns
of its society.

And this is why the role of the SALRC is so vitally important. The
SALRC has an important role to play in undertaking research with reference
to all branches of law of the Republic in order to make recommendations
for the development, improvement, modernisation or reform of the law.
It has to provide government with pragmatic advice, backed up by extensive
and ground-breaking research and proper public consultation. Law reform
becomes the catalyst that turns the views and wishes of society into
practical application, it is pivotal to the improvement and renewal of
our legal system.

I am not sure if everyone is aware that the President announced, today,
the appointment of Judge Mandisa Maya as Chair of the Commission and
Judge Jody Kollapen as Deputy Chair. The remaining Commissioners
will be appointed shortly.
The SALRC also seeks to encourage legal scholarship and public dialogue
on the link between law reform, human rights and the rule of law. One
of the Commission’s most exciting initiatives is this competition.
The 2011/2012 competition was launched in February 2012 and the closing
date for receipt of essays was 30 September 2012. The response
from law students and faculties was overwhelming. The SALRC received
20 essays in the LLB category and nine essays in the LLM category. The
essays received were from students registered at the universities of
Cape Town; KwaZulu-Natal; Limpopo; Pretoria; Stellenbosch; South Africa;
Varsity College; Western Cape; and Witwatersrand.

The essays were assessed by a Panel of Adjudicators consisting of Professors
Cathi Albertyn (Wits University, former Part-time Commissioner of the
SALRC and Chairperson of the Panel), Vivian Lawack (Dean of the Faculty
of Law: Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University), Managay Reddi (Dean
of the Faculty of Law: UKZN), and Pamela Schwikkard (Dean of the Faculty
of Law: UCT and former Part-time Commissioner of the SALRC). The SALRC
and Juta are indebted to the panel for assisting with the assessments.
The panel unanimously agreed that the 2011/2012 Ismail Mahomed Prize
for Law Reform should be awarded only for the LLB category and there
is one winner and three runners up.

Tonight we are honoured to have with us the honourable Justice Lex Mpati,
who will deliver the Key Note address and also pay tribute to the winner
and the three runners up. To the winners, remember the words of President
Barack Obama who, in his book Dreams of my Father, writes that:

“The study of law can be disappointing at times, a matter of applying
narrow rules and arcane procedure to an uncooperative reality; a sort
of glorified accounting that serves to regulate the affairs of those
who have power – and that all too often seeks to explain, to those
who do not, the ultimate wisdom and justness of their condition. But
that is not what the law is. The law is also memory; the law records
a long-running conversation, a nation arguing with its conscience.”

I have read the four winning essays and I have no doubt that our country
possesses some great young legal minds, minds that will contribute to
the legal profession, to our courts and to our law so as to continuously
build the type of society that Ismail Mahomed dedicated his life to.
He would be proud.